Santa Barbara Music Club

Member Type: Musician

Malvinni Valerie , Violinist, Violist

Valerie Malvinni, an avid performer and teacher on the violin and viola, is currently Visiting Assistant Professor of Viola at University of Missouri, Columbia where she also serves as Executive Director of the Missouri String Project. She has taught violin, viola and chamber music at many schools and colleges including Santa Barbara City College, Westmont College, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, and the Suzuki Violin School of Santa Barbara.

As an orchestral player, Valerie held principal positions with the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, SB Symphony and was principal viola of the Haddonfield Symphony (now called Symphony in C) under Alan Gilbert. She was a regular substitute with the Los Angeles Philharmonic for many years, performing under the direction of both Esa-Peka Salonen and Gustavo Dudamel. A passionate chamber musician, she was mentored by Isaac Stern, Guarneri Quartet, Emerson Quartet, Juilliard Quartet,Takács Quartet, American Quartet, and Robert McDonald. She is currently the violist in the Esterházy string quartet in residence at Missouri, which has been in existence for over 50 years.

Valerie has performed in some notable halls such as Carnegie Hall, Disney Hall, Hollywood Bowl, Library of Congress, and with members of the NY Philharmonic, LA Philharmonic and internationally at Réncontres Musicales d’Evian. She is a graduate of Curtis Institute of Music where her teachers included Karen Tuttle, Felix Galimir, and Joseph dePasquale, and with Heiichiro Ohyama for her Master of Music degree from University of California Santa Barbara, and finally did doctoral studies at UCLA with Ralph Fielding and Paul Coletti.

This summer, Valerie is looking forward to teaching and performing at the Chigiana Global Academy Program in Siena, Italy.

SBMC Concert Performances

Alexandra Finch , Bassoonist

Alexandra Finch is a bassoonist based in Santa Barbara, California. She studied at UCLA under John Steinmetz, where she developed a deep interest in chamber music and collaborative performance. Finch has performed with the California Youth Artist’s Symphony and participated in a variety of ensembles ranging from orchestral to contemporary chamber settings. Equally at home in standard repertoire and new works, she strives to bring versatility and attention to detail to every project. Finch is committed to fostering meaningful musical connections through performance and collaboration, both on stage and in rehearsal.

SBMC Concert Performances

Thomas Mellan , Organist

Described in the press as “manically unpredictable” and “the bad-boy of organ music,” Thomas Mellan is an organist, pianist, producer and composer based in Los Angeles. In 2012, he played his first recital at Église Saint-Eustache in Paris. He is featured in the official Walt Disney Concert Hall organ DVD. In 2018, his European tour included a
residency at the Lviv Concert Hall, where he gave the Ukrainian premier of Messiaen’s Livre d’Orgue on the largest organ in Ukraine. In 2023, he performed in the international festival on the historic Schnitger organ at the Jacobikirche in Hamburg. As performer, he specializes in virtuosic repertoire from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries as well as French baroque music. His compositions have been performed in North America, Europe and Asia by musicians including the Sakura Cello Quintet, Orest Smovzh, Stephen Tharp and Jared Jacobsen.

His output features « impossible » organ music that attempts to push the limits of organ technique, but also includes a forty-minute set of inventions for solo violin, a concerto for five cellos, piano sonatas, pieces for chamber ensembles and electronic music which straddles the lines between avant-garde classical music, experimental dubstep and death metal.

In 2025, he performed Pierre Boulez’s Second Piano Sonata for the Los Angeles based series Piano Spheres to commemorate Boulez’s 150th birthday. He contributed harpsichord and synthesizer parts on Delirium Musicum’s debut album Seasons, released in 2023 by Warner Classics and produced by Fred Vogler.

Mellan graduated from the USC Thornton School of Music in 2017 with a BM in organ performance and composition. And in 2020, he completed an MM in organ and an MM in composition. He attended Thornton for seven years on full-tuition scholarship. He is currently the organist at First United Methodist Church in Santa Barbara.

SBMC Concert Performances

Björn Månsson , Pianist

Björn Månsson, pianist, studied at the University of Music in Gothenburg from 1975 to 1984 under Professor Stella Tjajkovski, earning degrees (MA) in piano, music theory, music teaching, and piano teaching. He concluded his studies with a postgraduate soloist diploma and made his debut as a soloist with an orchestra in Gothenburg and Norrköping in 1982. His first solo piano recital took place in Gothenburg in 1984. Following his diploma, he continued his studies in Paris from 1987 to 1988 as a scholarship recipient under Vlado Perlemuter. During his academic journey, he also participated in master classes with prominent musicians such as Tatiana Nikolayeva, Hans Leygraf, Vlado Perlemuter, Robert Riefling, and Tibor de Machula. He currently teaches at Hvitfeldtska Musikgymnasiet in Gothenburg, though he has previously served as a university lecturer in piano, piano methodology, and music theory at the Music University of Ingesund. As a performer, Björn Månsson has appeared as both a soloist and chamber musician throughout Sweden and internationally, including on Sweden’s National Radio and in countries such as Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Malta, Poland, and Germany.

SBMC Concert Performances

Mariah Johnston , Oboist

Mariah Johnston is an oboist and English horn player originally from Minnesota. She studied music at St. Olaf College, and since then has had the privilege of performing with various community groups in Minnesota, Washington D.C., Colorado, and Los Angeles. While her professional career has centered around international development and public health, Mariah has always prioritized her passion for music. She recently moved to Santa Barbara and is thrilled to become a part of its vibrant music community!

SBMC Concert Performances

Carol Houchens , Flutist

Carol Houchens, flutist, graduated with a BA in music from the University of California at Riverside. She continued her music studies at the University of Southern California, where she earned an MM degree in flute performance. For many years, Carol taught flute in the Music Department at UC Riverside, while playing in Riverside Symphony and San Bernardino Symphony. Carol moved back to the central coast to work at UC Santa Barbara, eventually retiring as the Director of Academic Administration. Presently, Carol serves as Principal Flute with the Santa Maria Philharmonic. In addition, she participates in various capacities with most other local orchestras, including the Santa Barbara Chamber Players, San Luis Obispo Symphony, SLO Opera, SLO Master Chorale, Lompoc Pops, and Symphony of the Vines.

SBMC Concert Performances

UCSB Chamber Choir

The UCSB Chamber Choir is the flagship choral ensemble at UCSB, representing excellence in vocal talent, musicianship, and professionalism. This SATB ensemble focuses on innovative programming including premieres and commissions to inspire a concert experience of exploration and intention. The Chamber Choir enjoys collaborations with professional music organizations throughout the area and goes on annual tours. This ensemble is led by Director of Choral Studies, Brent Wilson.

Brent Wilson , Conductor

Brent Wilson is a Los Angeles-based tenor, conductor and stage director, and is the Department Chair of Performing Arts and Director of Voice, Choirs, Opera and Musical Theatre at Ventura College, resident guest director at Viterbo University, and director of choral studies at University of California, Santa Barbara. Locally as a conductor, Wilson served as Assistant Conductor and Chorus Master of Opera Santa Barbara for over twenty productions and conducted productions of The Consul and Don Pasquale. He has appeared as conductor for the UCSB Orchestra and Opera, receiving top prizes for collegiate opera production from the National Opera Association for the production of Twelfth Night.

Wilson has worked with choral groups such as the Grammy-nominated ensemble Boston Baroque, Handel and Haydn Society, Handel Oratorio Society(Chicago), Long Beach Camerata, and Santa Barbara Master Chorale, and opera ensembles including Boston Lyric Opera, Maine Grand Opera, Opera Santa Barbara, Granite State Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Opera Theatre Saint Louis.

Additionally, he has been on faculty at the Tanglewood Institute through Boston University, Augustana College, and Viterbo University where the National Opera Association awarded his production of Trouble in Tahiti a third prize in Division I collegiate productions. He is a member of the National Opera Association, American Choral Directors Association, National Association of Teachers of Singing, and champions the training of young singers and has students in the Broadway tours of School of Rock, Rock of Ages, and Hamilton. He has recently embarked on a project to rediscover and remount works by Gian Carlo Menotti that have been lost since their debuts on NBC and CBS in the ’60’s and ’70’s. Wilson received voice performance degrees from Augustana College (B.A.) and Boston University School of Music (M.M.) and also holds degrees in Computer Science/Mathematics from Augustana. In his free time, Wilson likes to compete in marathons and other endurance sports and has completed five Ironman competitions, fourteen marathons, and most recently ran across the Italian Dolomites Alta Via I 75 mile trail in a weekend.

SBMC Concert Performances

Kate Unger , Soprano

Kate Unger, soprano, is a third year computer science student at UCSB. She began singing when she joined the Davis Children’s Choir in first grade, continuing through junior high school. At age 9, she began playing viola, culminating in three years with the Davis High Baroque Ensemble. In addition, she sang with the Davis High School Madrigal Choir where she toured New York, England, and Scotland. She also had the privilege of being in regional and national American Choral Director Association (ACDA) Honor Choirs including in Texas, California, Utah, and Missouri. Currently, Ms. Unger takes lessons from UCSB Professor of Voice Benjamin Brecher and vocal coaching from Dr. John Ballerino.

SBMC Concert Performances

Nancy Mathison , Clarinetist

Nancy Mathison grew up in Southern California and is a member of the New West Symphony, Santa Barbara Chamber Players, Santa Maria Philharmonic, Symphony of the Vines, and the San Luis Obispo Master Chorale Orchestra. She has performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Santa Barbara Symphony, Orchestra Novo, and the San Luis Obispo Symphony. She has also had the privilege of performing with Leonard Bernstein, the Houston Opera, American Ballet Theatre, Rudolf Nureyev Ballet, Andrea Bocelli, the Temptations, was a member of the Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra, and played principal clarinet and reeds with the Santa Barbara Civic Light Opera for its 20-year tenure. Nancy attended the Music Academy of the West and received her degrees in clarinet performance from the University of Southern California (bachelor’s) and UCSB (master’s). She studied with Gary Foster, James Kanter, and Mitchell Lurie.

SBMC Concert Performances